Bar lock assemblies are long tubular closing devices which are in wide spread use on truck and/or semi-trailer doors and panels for adding structural support to the truck or trailer body. Such prior art bar lock assemblies typically include an elongated locking rod having upper and lower latching members or cams fixed to opposite ends of an elongated bar. A pair of vertically spaced bracket assemblies operably secure opposite ends of the locking rod to the truck door or panel for rotation about a fixed axis. A handle is secured toward an intermediate portion of the locking rod so as to rotate the operating bar and, thus, the latching members into and from operable relation with keepers secured to the surrounding frame structure on the semi-trailers, cargo containers and the like.
Prior art bar lock assemblies are relatively cumbersome to install on a truck or semi-trailer panel or door. Each bar lock assembly is comprised of a relatively large number of parts which must be separately handled and installed by an installer. Also, the upper and lower latching members or cams are typically welded to the operating bar. If such welds are affected at the time of final assembly, alignment problems can result and there may be a need to regalvanize the operating bar to reduce corrosion. Alternatively, the latching members or cams and the operating bar may be welded together by the manufacturer. In either form, the fully assembled locking rod has a considerable length making it cumbersome and difficult to assemble in a vertical orientation to the door or panel on the truck or cargo container.
Each bracket assembly used to operably secure one end of the locking rod to the truck door or panel includes a series of individual parts or components. That is, each bracket assembly usually includes a mounting bracket with flanges extending laterally from each side thereof and which is configured to accommodate a bearing used to journal the operating bar of the locking rod. A conventional bearing used to journal the operating bar includes two halves or pieces which interlock relative to each other. Cooperating instrumentalities between the mounting bracket and bearing pieces help prevent the bearing from rotating when the locking rod is turned to lock/unlock the door or panel relative to the surrounding truck or trailer body frame. To further add to the parts comprising the bar lock assembly, a backing plate can be fitted between the flanges on the mounting bracket and the panel or door to which the bar lock assembly is to be secured. As is known, the backing plate can either be of one or two-piece construction. Threaded fasteners or conventional bolt and nut combinations are typically used to fasten or secure the mounting bracket and related parts to the truck or semi-trailer door or panel.
One typical method for installing a bar lock assembly to a door or panel of a truck or trailer involves the following steps or procedures. The bar lock assembly including a locking rod, with locking members or cams already secured to opposite ends of the operating bar, mounting brackets, half-bushings, backing plates and other bracket related hardware are taken from storage bins and staged near a lock rod assembly mounting area. Next, the locking members or cams at opposed ends of each locking rod or operating bar are inserted into operable association with the vertically spaced keepers secured to the surrounding frame of the semi-trailers, cargo containers and the like. This temporarily holds the locking rod or operating bar in vertical position until each bracket assembly can be fastened to the truck or trailer door/panel. Next, four half-bushings are taken from the staging area. Two half-bushings are slipped over each end of the locking rod and are secured together through suitable instrumentalities. Two mounting brackets are thereafter taken from the staging area. A mounting bracket is placed into operable combination with each bearing on the locking rod. If the bar lock assembly includes a backing plate or plates, they are next taken from staging area and positioned between the flanges on the mounting bracket and the truck door or panel to which the bracket assembly is to be secured. Thereafter, each bracket assembly is slid into position along the length of the elongated locking rod.
After each bracket assembly is slid into position along the length of the elongated locking rod, the apertures or holes in the flanges of the mounting bracket are used as a template to mark where the holes are to be drilled in the truck doors or panels for accommodating the fasteners used to securely mount the bracket assembly and, thus, the locking rod to the truck door or panel. It should be appreciated, and especially in those situations where the bracket assembly includes a backing plate disposed between the flanges on the mounting bracket and the truck door or panel, it can be difficult to hold all the bracket assembly parts in assembled relation relative to each other and in a proper vertical position while also trying to concomitantly drill a series of holes through the metal covered truck door or panel.
Requiring a series of fasteners to secure each bracket assembly to the truck door or panel further exacerbates the assembly process. After drilling the holes in the doors, it can be difficult, for one person, to maintain the multiple components comprising the bracket assembly in positional relation relative to each other and in positional relation relative to the drilled holes in the doors or panels while also having to recover, grapple with, position, and then insert the plurality of bolts or fasteners through the openings in the flanges of the mounting bracket and backing plate and, ultimately, into the holes drilled in the doors. As will be understood, this process is then repeated for a second and possibly third, fourth or more bracket assemblies.
Notably, assembling the bar lock unit to the truck or trailer doors or panels frequently takes place in an assembly-line environment. As such, smooth flow of the assembly process with substantially no interruptions is crucial. Inevitably, during the assembly process, parts or components of the bar lock assembly are inadvertently dropped or misplaced, and valuable time is lost by having to replace such dropped or misplaced parts or components. That is, time must be spent returning to the storage bins to retrieve replacement parts. As will be appreciated, having to return to the storage bins to retrieve replacement parts is disruptive and significantly interferes with the desired smooth flow of the assembly process.
Keeping an adequate inventory of the individual pieces and parts comprising the bar lock assembly can also be problematical. Presently, each component comprising the bar lock assembly has independent part numbers associated therewith. Maintaining proper records of the various bar lock assembly components is a tedious, time consuming process. Without maintaining proper records, inventories of the various parts comprising each bar lock assembly can be depleted while inventories of other parts remain satisfactory. In those situations where there are an inadequate number of a specific parts or components comprising the bar lock assembly readily available in the storage bins to complete the assembly process can complicate and sometimes delay the desired smooth flow of assembling the bar lock assemblies to the doors and/or panels of a truck or other cargo container.
Thus, there is a continuing need and desire for a bar lock assembly configured to further facilitate assembly to the truck and/or trailer doors or panels and a method for simplifying shipment of such a bar lock assembly to the trailer manufacturer and the steps involved with inventorying the component parts comprising such bar lock assembly.